TexMessage: Texas state troopers urge safer travel this Thanksgiving

TexMessage

Thursday, November 22

The Texas Department of Public Safety has organized more state troopers than usual to monitor increased traffic due to holiday traffic, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports.

“We’ll have a lot of troopers utilizing overtime and get out there on the highways to just ensure we’re looking out for the public and ensuring their safety out there on the roads while they’re traveling for Thanksgiving,” DPS Trooper Gabriel Medrano told the Avalance-Journal.

Medrano said there will be high levels of traffic and people speeding to get to their destinations as quickly as possible. Troopers will try to make themselves visible to encourage drivers to “slow down and obey traffic laws.”

The DPS also discouraged travelers from using their cellphones while driving and to be sure to buckle up.

The DPS on Tuesday urged all travelers to use caution when driving, to avoid texting while behind the wheel and to wear seat belts.

During last year’s Thanksgiving weekend, 393 people were arrested for driving while intoxicated, more than 7,400 speeding citations were issued and more than 900 safety restraint citations were handed out, DPS said.

On Monday, a massive pileup involving four 18-wheelers and nine passenger cars injured 17 people and left one dead.

There have been several accidents on Texas I-35 this week as travelers make their way up and down Texas’ interstate I-35.

For more information about accidents on Texas interstates and to plan your travels safely, check out accidentin.com.